The Mask gave Cameron Diaz an ulcer. Now, it's not that the lovely model was a stranger to the camera. Indeed not. It was the realization, during filming, that her unexpectedly big first role was in a BIG movie, and it didn't help that she had no training or experience in acting -- no turn as a pre-pubescent Annie or high school Mame. She did well enough, though, and soon could "stomach" even the toughest of movie roles. Six years earlier, the lovely 16 year old unknown met a photographer at a party. Within weeks she had dropped out of her San Diego school to take on a fabulous international career with the Elite Modeling Agency. Diaz was in demand, jetting to exotic locales and being very well paid for the trouble.
At 22, though, she decided, perhaps naively, to branch into Hollywood, and quickly won a small part in the big-budget flick The Mask (1994). Executives turned the part from "small" to "lead," and stressful though it was, it got the novice actor noticed and hired for the physically demanding Mortal Combat, a role she ultimately had to give up due to injury. A few acting lessons later, a more confident Diaz took on 1996's The Last Supper, Feeling Minnesota, and She's The One, for that year's ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow nod.
The work kept coming and Diaz opted for more interesting, less predictable roles in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997 - Blockbuster Entertainment Favorite Supporting Actress award), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Head Above Water (1997), Keys to Tulsa (1997), There's Something About Mary (1998), Very Bad Things (1998), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), and Being John Malkovich (1999 - Golden Globe nomination and Screen Actors' Guild award nomination).
Upcoming for the actor are lead roles in Shrek (voice), Invisible Circus, Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her, and she's to be one of a gorgeous threesome of Charlie's Angels. Diaz picks her films carefully, alternating artistic independents with public-pleasing mainstream hits. She's found her niche in Hollywood, having gone from just-another-pretty-face to respected "hot property" in a very few years. Hopefully there are no more ulcers in her future -- it appears to us that she has nothing to worry about.
